Cleaning the skin is very important for face care. It must be as effective as possible because the fatty residues, such as excess sebum, residues of the cosmetic products which are employed daily, and make-up products, especially the water-resistant “waterproof” products, accumulate in skin folds and at the surface of the skin and can block skin pores and entail the appearance of spots. In addition, compositions bearing UV Filters often have residues that are difficult to remove simply by rinsing. Poor cleaning quality, and in particular poor rinsing, are often responsible, among other causative factors, for a sallow complexion.
A number of major types of products for cleaning the skin are known: lotions and foaming detergent aqueous gels and oils and biphase makeup removers, milks for removing make-up, and foaming creams which are usually soap-based.
The foaming detergent aqueous lotions and gels can have a cleansing action by virtue of the surfactants which can suspend the fatty residues and the pigments of make-up products. They can be effective and pleasant to use because they can foam and they can be easily removed. However, it is difficult to achieve good cleansing/makeup removal with aqueous cleansers without stripping the skin and many of the good cleansing surfactants are too harsh to be used for eye area safety-wise.
Oily compositions are recognized for their effectiveness as a cleaning agent and/or make-up remover. They, in fact, allow lipophilic soiling and make-up to be dissolved very easily, in particular the “waterproof” and transfer-free make-ups which are known to be difficult to remove. These products are effective and well tolerated. They have the disadvantage of being runny and having a difficult application, not imparting a feeling of freshness on application as well as leaving a residue behind, and this is a disadvantage from a cosmetic viewpoint. Typically, anhydrous systems do not foam very well even with the incorporation of a propellant.
The lotions and the foaming detergent aqueous gels have a cleaning action by virtue of the surfactants which place the fatty residues and the pigments of the make-up products in suspension. They are effective and cosmetically pleasant because they foam and because they are easily removed. Insofar as they do not contain any cosmetic oil, they have the disadvantage of making the skin dry owing to their lipid-removing action and they do not remove makeup as well.
Attempts have been made to design cleaning foaming products which are easily rinsable with water, including oils in large quantities so as to optimize the cleaning of the skin and to hydrate and nourish the latter while avoiding any phenomenon of drying out and of irritation. Oils that produce a foam can be obtained by pressurization of oil with a propellant and packaging as an aerosol. The problem is to obtain foams that are fine, while presenting sufficient stability and rinsability.
Foams are complex dispersion systems which do not form under all circumstances. It is known to be very difficult to produce foams which are homogenous, stable, and which can provide a shelf-stable composition. One of the primary disadvantages associated with the use of foams is their foam stability. In order for the foam to perform satisfactorily, the actives finely dispersed therein must be satisfactorily distributed over the target surface. This in turn requires that the foam be sufficiently stable upon release from its container to allow for adequate coating over the target substrate. These foaming problems are further exacerbated by the fact that oils themselves are known to collapse foams.
It is desirable in the art to provide a foam-stable composition that can be readily rinsed with water and provide the consumer with a clean skin feel and no greasy residue after rinsing.